Friday Freebie: A little more communication, a little more action

Work to do over the coming months

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Thursday’s piece behind the paywall dealt with the lack of forward planning for league fixtures over the course of the season meaning clubs are now struggling to fit in fixtures before the season ends.

A strain that’s being put on all levels of the games not least those of us who follow our clubs up and down and across the country week after week. We’ve all seen across social media sides now needing to play four times in seven days and in some cases even worse.

For us as fans it’s testing the limits. It’s not questioning our devotion or anything like that but it’s a strain on the wallet in times where people are already having to make a decision between forgoing one thing in order to have something else.

At times it does feel like supporters have been disregarded when it comes to timings, pitch inspections and communication. It’s been quite the car crash at times and less erring on the side of caution.

I do appreciate that whichever way some decisions go they don’t please everyone, similar to plenty of things in everyday life. At the lower levels with the game being more regional mileage isn’t as much of an issue down at the County League levels in Step 5 and 6.

As you start to move up the distances as you would expect increase and bearing that in mind the volunteers at clubs and spectators need to be given more thought.

The FA and leagues need to come up with a better way of both holding these pitch inspections and then ensuring club communication in and around that time is followed.  We live in an age where technology allows us to walk a pitch by video, to communicate effectively and update more often than we can follow on our social media accounts.

It's appreciated many match referees live some distance from the games they undertake, why have those in charge not thought of getting together a panel of ex-officials on a pro-rata group to work across the weekends but only receive payment if they are called out to assess a pitch where the match referee can’t attend in good time?

That could also apply to serving referee’s who are able to do exactly the same in the morning across possibly as many as four in a local area, would it be that hard to put together?

In my opinion an inspection should be held before spectators are travelling as a minimum. Some will say before the team travels as well because clubs will also be out of pocket, but the higher you go it’s factoring in overnight stays etc. it’s not that possible.

Clubs will have to make a re-arranged journey regardless, but how many supporters don’t make the new date because they used the money they had on that fruitless trip?

Doubt in the inspection i.e. it’s passed a morning check but the possibility of more rain would render a pitch unplayable then becomes a grown up decision you make yourself, no one else. That is your choice to travel and I appreciate a lot of fans will go to the end of the earth in order to see their team, but that part has to be your responsibility.

The same as clubs need to take the same approach on communication, especially the higher up you go, and the FA/referees associations/leagues need to take to limit as much as you can.

No two situations are ever going to be perfect here but getting something in place means you can tweak it and add more to it, without it currently it’s hollow words shouted into the abyss.

If the rain just lashes down in between journeys and makes a pitch unplayable then there is nothing that can be done, but why not try and limit what we can instead of shrugging the shoulders and going ‘oh well’.

Seeing Aldershot fans having travelled to Gateshead on Tuesday night with no hint of needing an inspection yet fans around the area not believing the game would go ahead and were quite right, but a call off 20 minutes before the scheduled kick off time should be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

We all understand authorities don’t make the weather plans, but they can do bits here and there in order to ease things for all as best they can, life isn’t perfect, this isn’t perfect but create some understanding and there’s something to fall back on, at the moment it’s falling over…….

What’s your thought process? Have you been en route whilst a game’s been called off with no notice of an inspection? Let me know in the comments below and if you’ve enjoyed reading this article or any others on the site please feel free to ‘buy me a coffee’ or make a donation here, it’s much appreciated.